


Only You

by CatsBalletHarveySpecter



Category: Jopper - Fandom, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: El has so many questions, Friend love VS romantic love, Jim gives in, Jopper, inspired by The Nanny, the we're just friends but we're so obviously more story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27937677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatsBalletHarveySpecter/pseuds/CatsBalletHarveySpecter
Summary: El has a question. Hopper and Joyce are "just friends"
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Only You

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this little snippet (heavily inspired by The Nanny) for something else but while editing I realized it worked for Jopper so here we are.

_ “Dad,” El pipes up from across the table. She looks at her father with wide-eyes as she speaks.  _

_ “Are you going to marry Joyce?”  _

_ He nearly chokes on his food when she asks and has to take a large sip of water before speaking. Joyce waits for him to respond, curious as to how he was going to handle this one.  _

_ “Well sweetheart, you have to be in love before you get married.” _

_ “But you do love Joyce,” El says.  _

_ Hopper locks eyes with Joyce across the table and a charged energy passes between them. There’s silence and a beat before anyone speaks again.  _

_ “Of course I do kiddo, but I love her like a friend, just like you love Will. To marry someone you have to love them romantically,” he explains.  _

_ “Besides,” Joyce interjects, “there needs to be all of these other things, you’d have to get along well enough to live together, there has to be a sexual tension,” she brushes her palm against his beneath the table and blushes, pulling back as they share a knowing glance.  _

_ “What’s a sexual tension?” Eleven asks.  _

_ “I think that’s enough questions for today!” Hopper exclaims, “why don’t you two run along and play while Joyce and I get dessert ready?” _

_ “Okay,” both kids cry together. They scramble down from their seats and scamper off into the living room to play.  _

* * *

After dinner, Hopper finds himself cleaning off dishes with Joyce while the kids play around with whatever new video game system they were obsessed with. 

With the promise of dessert being served soon, both Will and El had no problem leaving him and Joyce to tidy up after dinner.  _ Dad, are you going to marry Joyce.  _ He could kill that kid. He knows she doesn’t know any better but my god he was just about ready to combust at that table. 

He chuckles softly to himself, and she smiles at the fact that he’s smiling. “Wild little imaginations they have. Asking if we’re going to get married. We aren’t even together.”

“You’ve never introduced her to a girlfriend?” she asks quietly. 

“I don’t want her to get attached to someone that won’t be around long,” he replies. 

“Then why…?”

“You? You’re different. And I plan on keeping you in my life.”

“You do?” she whispers.

“If that’s alright with you?” The words roll off his tongue in a whispered tone, and he’s standing close enough that she can practically feel them. His eyes scan hers, his palm settles on the small of her back and tugs her half a step closer to him. She holds her breath and leans in, her entity body humming in anticipation. His lips hover inches from hers but Will’s call from the living room shatters the moment and they pull apart. 

“We’re coming!” Hopper calls back, reluctantly releasing Joyce’s waist. 

Joyce turns and prepares to leave the kitchen when the sound of his voice, gruff and hushed, forces her to turn around.

“Joyce.”

“I-“ he whispers, he closes the distance between them once again, lips hovering just above her ear, his body pressed against hers in the threshold of the doorway. 

“Yes,” she breathes.

“You consider us friends, don’t you?”

“Obviously,” she responds.

“But…”

“But,” she whispers, her lips ghosting over his with extreme patience that requires all of her attention.

He gives in quicker than she does, his lips capturing hers in a searing kiss. 

It knocks the breath out of her and leaves her winded when he pulls back to answer the calls of his children who are now demanding dessert. 

“To be continued?” he asks before he walks away. 

She swallows hard and nods. 

  
  
  



End file.
